Under the influence

I have to stop reading sites like Television Without Pity. I find myself continually influenced by the negative opinions of others that my own enjoyment of shows I usually love is affected. And TWoP is a site built around snark.

Don’t get me wrong - I don’t have a hate-on for TWoP. It’s a fun site with some great recappers and a big community of television lovers. It’s heavily moderated - probably one of the most moderated sites I’ve ever posted on. I mean, I started out a post with the word ‘Um’ once and got dinged by them, and that ding stayed on my record for a couple of years. For a site built on snark, they probably would like the snark directed at the shows themselves rather than other users.

But I digress.

The reason I bring all this up is that I’ve been following the “Bones” forum on TWoP and there are some deep thinkers there. Almost too deep. I love “Bones.” I have been critical of it lately, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s not a direct reflection of the posts I read in the “Bones” thread - many of the longtime viewers there are hyper-critical of the characters, the plots, the dialogue, the clothes worn, the directors, writers and man do some of them really hate Cam.

I worry that reading those opinions has lessened my enjoyment of “Bones” by forcing me to watch it with a hyper-critical eye. I’ve always been one to tout the entertainment aspect of the TV world and I avoid nitpickers and naysayers on shows I love. I’m finding that I avoided them because I let them influence me too much until I stop liking a show altogether.

I’m sure it’s a character flaw of mine because I know people who can read spoilers and nitpick with the best of them, yet they still tune in every week. But when does a show go from being purely entertaining to a show you watch just to nitpick and mock? I’m not denying the rights of the TWoPers to do what they do and feel what they feel about “Bones.” I wouldn’t keep reading the dang thread there if I didn’t somewhat care about what other people think of the show I love so much. But I think I have to be careful. I’m pretty good at fanwanking and in fact I prefer to just sit back and watch. Plotholes and mistakes in forensics or courtroom traditions don’t ever jump out at me. I can forgive it if it serves the overall story.

This week’s episode of “Bones” was wonderful. I loved the intensity, the emotion, the ethical dilemmas. But reading fan reaction and nitpicks has influenced how I feel about the episode. And if I rewatch it, I’ll only see the tiny mistakes and missteps the eagle-eyed viewers of TWoP caught. And that’s a shame.

And it’s different than reading a simple review of a show. A review is usually just an overall, “I liked it/hated it” thing without going into minute detail. A recap is pretty detailed. A TWoP recap is detailed and snarky as hell and that can be funny or it can wreck your enjoyment of a show. I had to quit reading the TWoP recaps of “24″ because I couldn’t stop referring to Tony Almeida as ‘Soulpatch’ which took me out of the moment.

Anyway, this rambling post doesn’t have much of a point so I’ll put it out of its misery

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